!

(jC

24th

August, 2012

To,

The Hon/ble Chief Minister Government of Maharashtra

Mantralaya, Mumbai.

Sub: Water Supply and Sanitation Management

Hon/ble Sir,

I, Arshad Balwa am 16 years of age and a student of Mumbai School. I represent the future of India and therefore to you. I have taken the liberty of addressing this letter

Mumbai water

supply comes from 6 lakes - Tansa, Modak, Bhatsa, Vaitarna, storage,

Tulsi, Upper Vaitarna and Powai. This system is made up of reservoirs, pipes and taps. The water distribution

system in Mumbai is about 100 years old. and stored in- 23 reservoirs.

Water is brought in from the lakes after treatment The 2 major resources, city and therefore

Tansa and Lower Vaitarna are at a higher level than the to pump the water to the city.

not much power is required

The service reservoirs

are mainly located on hills at Malabar Hill, Worli Hill, The timing of the water supply to 2 to 4 hours. The average urban to approximately 295

Raoli, Pali Hill, Malad, Powai and Bhandup. different parts of the cities varies between

water use in India is about 150 liters per day compared liters per day in the cities of the developed countries.

The total water supply to

Mumbai city is about 3500 million liters per day out of which about 700 millions of water is lost by way of water thefts, illegal connections and leakages every in

single day. At present nearly half the 1700 million liters of sewage generated Mumbai daily is let out into the sea untreated the treatment plant.

as all the sewers are not linked to of Mumbai has undertaken a

The Municipal Corporation

Rs.5200 crores Mumbai Sewage Disposal Project (MSDP) and the whole network is scheduled to be in place by the year 2017.

Mumbai depends solely on the monsoon the rest of the year water

rains for its lakes to fill up so that for to the over 14 million residents. Mumbai and in

can be supplied

According to the study carried

out by Mckinsey Global Institute, city will experience

New Delhi, India's most populous demand India, Water

2nd

the biggest increase

for water from amongst

the world's largest cities from 2010 to 2025. will account for 15.8% of the Municipal Meeting drinking, industrial and

only to China in population growth

for demand

in the world.

municipal demands as more people move to city will require not only substantial investment substantial but also far sighted planning for the next 50 years. investment that the Municipal Corporation of Greater Despite the Mumbai is

making in the MSDP the residents

of Mumbai will continue to be at the mercy of of the monsoon is the

the monsoon year after year. Coupled with the uncertainty rising demand shortage per capita and the rising population

which will lead to a huge on an average about

of water in the coming years.

Mumbai receives

2600 millimeters

of rain every year and most of this is drained into the sea via

the storm water drains.

Global examples of water supply and sanitation management

Perhaps the most striking example of water supply and sanitation that stands out in the world is that of Singapore. depended water Post Independence, management Singapore

on Malaysia for almost all its water supply. in Singapore began with

The history of modern of the MacRitchi

supply

the construction

Reservoir

which was built by the British in 1868. of Singapore and Sultan Ebrahim

In 1927 the Municipal of to the of

Commissioner

of the State and Territory that allowed Singapore

Johar in neighbouring

Malaya signed an agreement

rent land in Johar and use its water for free. In 1932, a pipeline to transport raw water Singapore carries to Singapore was built and inaugurated. that linked Singapore and the pipeline During the batter

in 1942, the causeway was damaged

with Malaya and that which left

the pipeline

was destroyed

Singapore

with water reserves

that could last for 2 weeks.

According to Lee later

Kuan Yew this was one of the motives to envision water self-sufficiency when he became the City State Prime Minister. As Singapore continued

to grow When

rapidly more and more water was needed to sustain the city's growth. Singapore became independent

in 1965 even though opposed by Malaysia, water

security became the top agenda for the city state. To achieve water security and to free itself from the clutches of Malaysia, it introduced taps policyl/. The first tap was local water catchments, what is called the "four the 2nd tap was imported from

water from Malaysia, the 3rd tap was reclaimed water i.e. water reclaimed sewage treatment situation water plant and the 4th tap was seawater desalination.

From a

of 100% water import, Singapore by 2061 with no water

will be 100% self sufficient in its being imported from Malaysia.

requirement

Singapore receives the same amount of rainfall as does Mumbai. However, since like Mumbai most of the land is developed, catch and store the rainfall. partly protected drinking reservoirs. treated water. catchment there is a huge constraint of land to

2/3rd of the countries area so that rainwater water

surface area are classified as can be collected and used as in 17 raw water and use of the

As of 2012, surface

was collected

Singapore has also pioneered for public consumption. by Singapore's

the sewage treatment Newater

water

is the brand nam<:: given to More specifically it is and

reclaimed water produced

public utilities.

treated waster water (sewage) that has been purified using dual membrane ultra violet technology in addition to conventional factories water treatment

processes. 50

As of 2008 there were 5 newater

located in Singapore

producing

million imperial gallons per day. Some of the newater applications in industries. Newater is currently

is used for non portable

able to meet 30% of Singapore's seawater as one of

water requirements.

Singapore has also relied on desalinated

its 4th tap in its Four Tap Policy.

Reclaimed water and water from catchment area in Mumbai context

Mumbai produces about 1700 million liters per day of sewage which is disposed off in the Arabian Sea without any possibility of reuse. If the water was treated

as in the case of Singapore, it could produce about 1000 million liters of portable drinking water everyday and provide for almost 25% of the water requirement

of Mumbai.

Mumbai has the largest forest area in any city in the form of the an

Sanjay Gandhi National Park. The Sanjay Gandhi National Park encumberses area of 104 sq. km and is surrounded national

on 3 sides by Mumbai. It is one of the major limit in Asia. The Sanjay Gandhi

parks existing within a metropolis

National Park also has a few catchment area in the form of the Powai Lake, Vihar Lake and the Tansa Lake. catchment However most of the rainwater, which falls in this and nalas

area, is discharged

into the sea via the various streams

without it being captured for the use of the population.

Various committees

and commissions

have debated the issue of Mumbai city and and substantial I therefore money on request

its water requirements endeavors

and have wasted opportunities

that have not resulted

in any tangible benefits.

that the Municipal Corporation provides

of Mumbai and the Government

of Maharashtra

the citizens of Mumbai with a blue print of the plan for the next 50 water demands of the citizens of

years as to how it will meet the increasing

Mumbai and provide a concrete and tangible plan for waste water use and other water conservation 10-20 years. techniques so as to make Mumbai self sufficient in the next

I, Arshad Balwa citizen of India call upon your goodself to put in place a plan to make Mumbai Water Independent cut deadline hereof. of implementation and disclose the plan to the public with clear I further request you to do so within 60 days

Thanking you,

Yours truly,

ARSHAD BALW A